5 Fantastic Ways to Make (and Save) Money Using a Garden Log Cabin

Everyone welcomes the opportunity to increase their income or make significant financial savings, the only real barrier is how to do it. Well, if you own a log cabin, or are planning to buy one, we’re going to talk you through the ways to use this asset to improve yours and your family’s finances, through both making and saving money.

Two ways to use your log cabin as a regular source of income are:

1.       As a short-term rental, for example through Airbnb

2.       Hire the space out for special events

Making significant savings in your family’s expenditure is equally as attractive as increasing income. Here are three routes to achieving savings when you own a log cabin:

3.       Use it as a ‘granny flat’

4.       A temporary home for grown-up children

5.       A garden office or other business base

Once you own a log cabin, of course, it doesn’t have to be permanently used for just one of these things. You can even move between the income-increasing and saving-making categories, according to your circumstances at any given time.

This is largely dependent on the type of log cabin you own and where you live, and it can fluctuate over time depending on current market rates.

The Airbnb Insights Report includes some useful statistics and case studies to give you an idea about how much you could earn from your log cabin investment. It shows that the average host in the West Midlands (Buy Sheds Direct’s Head Office location) has typical average earnings of £2,500* for hosting just 35 nights per year.

Clearly, if you live in an area that is more of a tourist destination, you could expect to host more nights and charge a higher price.

What’s more, UK Airbnb hosts can receive a £1,000 tax free allowance* on income earned from hosting. Speak to your financial advisor to find out more.

Eventbrite cite the hire price of a hall or community space to be in the region of £30 - £120 per hour*.

Other types of small venue charge fees towards the bottom end of this bracket, and this is where you might wish to set your own garden cabin’s pricing.

However, before doing so, why not contact a few other local venues to help guide you? After all, while it’s important not to overcharge, you don’t want to undersell your log cabin asset either. This will have the added benefit of helping you increase useful contacts and connections in your local community.

The money you could save your elderly parent or grown-up children by converting your log cabin into a home for them is immense.

The average monthly rent for a property in the West Midlands is £940*. In London, the average cost is a whopping £2,174*.

This equates to £11,280* and £26,088* per annum respectively.

Whether you’re looking to support an elderly parent or give your kids a helping hand as they try to get on the property ladder, a garden log cabin could end up paying for itself many times over.

The cost of renting office space in Birmingham currently stands at between £28 and £40/ ft2*. In London, the cost rises to between £60 and £120/ ft2*.

You can find out how much you’d need to spend in your nearest city here.

Factor in your transport costs, plus the occasional visit to the sandwich shop too, and you’re going to make even bigger savings than this if you choose to work from home in a log cabin.

You can’t just set up one of these ventures without letting anybody know about it. With the exception of a basic garden office, you’re going to need to get official approval for your money making/ saving scheme.

Most log cabin garden buildings do not require planning permission per se, because they fall within national permitted development rights. However, when using the log cabin as living accommodation, a let or to host events, planning permission will be required. Therefore, as a first step, you should contact your local authority’s planning department.

You can find their details here.

And if you plan to use your log cabin as a garden office or to run a business, and that would involve clients attending regular meetings, we would also advise you to contact your local planning officer first, just in case they deem it likely to have an effect on the local neighbourhood.

Once you’ve determined what you intend to use your garden cabin for, you’re going to need to fit it with the necessary amenities.

In these cases, plumbing will probably be required too, involving both a supply of fresh water and for the disposal of waste.

A liveable annexe requires all of the above, plus sleeping quarters. In terms of short-term rentals, only the bathroom need be partitioned from the main room. More permanent accommodation, in order to remain comfortable, probably means you’ll need a log cabin with at least three compartments: for use as a bedroom, bathroom and for day-to-day living.

Depending on which of the above uses you choose for your log cabin, certification might encompass fire safety, gas safety (including carbon monoxide detectors), electricity, water supply, furniture and appliances, as well as various other building regulations, for example making the garden building disability compliant.

You can find out more about conducting a fire safety risk assessment here.

Building regulations should only apply if the log cabin is used for sleeping or has a floor space of over 15m2 (30m2 if more than 1 metre from your garden boundary).

You can discover more about building regulations here.

Using competent tradesmen to carry out any work could mean that you don’t need to worry about certification, as they will take care of it for you. Find out more about this here.

You must also consider the insurance and taxation implications that may arise from how you use your log cabin.

Initially, your local council’s planning department should be able to point you in the right direction, when it comes to obtaining the necessary documents and certificates.

Planning Portal is also an invaluable source of advice on many issues, from those surrounding planning permission through to costing your project and finding the right tradesmen.

For short-term rentals, Airbnb’s Responsible Hosting Standards for the UK is another useful source of advice.

The Government’s Health and Safety Executive provides you with key information to ensure you host safe and compliant events.

If you don’t already own a log cabin for your project, you should only buy one from a trusted supplier, and as one of Britain’s leading online retailers of garden log cabins, Buy Sheds Direct certainly falls into that category.

We offer an exceptional choice of log cabins, at extremely competitive prices, and only deal with the world’s leading log cabin manufacturers.

When choosing your garden building, areas to consider include the size of the log cabin, its cladding thickness, ease of access, and glazing material. The importance of these individual features will be determined by your intended use for the building.

Let’s take a look at three of our log cabins for sale now, to give you an idea of how they might suit your own specific requirements…

What’s more, when this log cabin is left unattended, there’s no need for its occupants to worry about security. The doors are fitted with robust metal hinges and a high-quality key-operated lock to keep valuables safe from unwanted attention.

As each of the three rooms has at least one window, the levels of natural light in this garden cabin are excellent. Just like the glass on the doors, they’re made from toughened double glazing and fitted with both a laminated frame and rubber seals, for enhanced insulation and soundproofing.

Discover more about the Palmako Heidi 8.8m x 3.9m Log Cabin Garden Building (70mm) here.

You can easily access this log cabin via wide double doors, which can be installed to the left or right of the garden building’s façade, to suit whatever you have planned for the interior and the orientation of your garden. These doors come with a key-operated lock, so security should never be an issue.

Thanks to five additional extra-large windows, this garden cabin enjoys an abundance of natural light. The windows are made from toughened double glazing, for superior insulation and soundproofing. They can be opened via a tilt and turn mechanism - great news if you’re hard at work on a hot summer’s day and need to ventilate your office.

Find out more about the Forest Blakedown 6m x 4m Log Cabin (45mm) now.

These include SBS, which is a torch-on felt with an exceptionally long lifespan, and heavy-duty charcoal felt shingles, which are attractive, durable, and easy to install.

The main entrance doors are fully glazed, laminated, and fitted with a stainless-steel sill. They come with a key-operated lock too, so you can ensure that valuables are kept safe from unwanted attention.

This garden cabin is wonderfully light and airy too. In addition to the glazed doors, there are two double windows to the main area, one double window to the side room, and another window to the rear. All of these windows are double glazed and fitted with rubber seals for enhanced insulation.

You can find more and view further images of the Palmako Anna 7.8m x 4.8m Log Cabin Garden Building (70mm) here.

All three of these log cabins really are beautiful garden buildings, but we’d advise you to view our superb full range of log cabins before making a decision about which to buy.

Here, you can sort our log cabins for sale by size, cladding thickness, price and more, so you can determine exactly which ones are suitable to meet your exact requirements.

For short term rentals and event hire, you’ll obviously need to let prospective clients know that your log cabin is open for business. This could involve a mixture of online and conventional advertising.

There are a range of websites that specialise in advertising your log cabin space – a simple Google search will show you more.

If you plan on going down the Airbnb route, be sure to read their checklist before you advertise and create your listing.

Also, you might wish to consider finding an experienced Co Host, who will help you with your listing, photos, pricing, and general advice about dealing with guests.

You could even join a host community to learn from the experiences of a wider range of people.

Requests to host an event are more likely to come from closer to home. While, once again, there are various websites that specialise in this, it could be worth placing an advertisement on your own social media channels, or even in the local shop, too.

All that is left now is for us to wish you luck in whatever business venture you have planned.

If you require advice about any of our log cabins, please don’t hesitate to contact one of our friendly, UK-based log cabin experts, who will be happy to assist you in any way they can.

(*Figures correct at time of publication.)

View our full 5 Fantastic Ways to Make (and Save) Money Using a Garden Log Cabin Infographic here.